R.D. Cornett

To address the water problem, the leaves could be tattered and shredded by wind (which would reduce wind resistance); this increases surface area so the leaves collect water from fog/mists. There is a beach/desert plant that does this, but my Google-fu fails me right now.

For strength, the trees could grow as colonies with connected roots.

I don't have experience, but I have bought amelanchier, hazelnut, and chestnut seeds from folks in Canada.

So far all I’ve had are foraged persimmons, but that’s one cultivar I want to grow. I like freezing pulp to make bread/cake.

There are currently amelanchier, hybrid chestnut, pawpaw, persimmon, wild plum, Oregon grape, jujube, hazelnut, hickory, and butternut seeds stratifying in our refrigerator. I'm going to find out just how difficult it is in the spring. The only tree I've ever grown from seed is an avocado. Now that we have land, I want to fill it with native fruit and nut trees. I have so much to learn.

I love Akiva's selection (I've ordered seeds; no trees yet), articles, and videos. I'm looking forward to his book.

I haven't been able to find much detail on how to build an air prune bed like this. I'd pay Akiva good money for an ebook.

Arbor Day has some decent prices, but I wouldn't suggest them anymore. I've had some decent success, but too many trees I ordered have struggled or died. Their selection is not great either. I will say that their peach trees have done very well for me. I planted four, three made it; two grew four feet in the first year, one grew 6.5'.

Kentucky has a state nursery with good prices on native seedlings. That's a possibility for a good source of rootstock and nut trees if Montana has something similar.

I currently have pawpaw, persimmon, wild plum, serviceberry, hazelnut, chestnut, and hickory seeds stratifying. I'd love to know how you grow trees from seed, especially anything on nursery beds/air prune beds and germinating. I have some excellent wild serviceberry and mulberry trees around the farm that I want to cultivate via cuttings and scions. Any tips on grafting these native (to me) trees are greatly appreciated. I'm in USDA Zone 6A, Kentucky.

There are some pawpaw and persimmon trees currently on the homestead, so I will be looking for the perfect scions for some of them and grafting next year.

Oh, and I want to propagate elderberry bushes from cuttings. Is it as easy as I've read? It's hard for me to believe I can just poke a stick in the ground and have a new plant. If so, I definitely want to cultivate some of the better elderberries on the homestead. I think a food forest of persimmons, pawpaws, plums, hazels, and elders would work nicely. Thanks!